A Hangover Cure From Xenotees

admin    T-Shirt News     Etsy, Handmade tees, Xenotees.com, cool tees, designer t-shirts, xenotees

Buy Tees are Xenotees firm fans (aren’t we all?). They have a devoted following which we soon found out about when we first reviewed them in The Strangely Exotic Mind Of Xenotees. Their appeal is both quirky and alluring, their approach experimental, and their products top-notch. So of course we delighted to hear from Noelle the creative wizard behind the label who told us she was taking up the gauntlet and extending her range of silhouette shirts with her latest creation entitled ‘Too Much Party’. Not so abstract as her some of previous incarnations but definitely geared to a wider market!

Too Much Party T-Shirt

Guaranteed for a laugh (even if you are suffering the effects of a wild night out), the print features an official vintage Pabst bottle opener with a bunch of newbie bottle caps! Too Much Party is currently available in three colours (Slate, Cranberry Red and ladies versions in Heather Grey and Kelly Green) and plenty of different sizes but as usual stocks are limited so if you’re planning to use and wear one of these tees to full effect, take some Alka-Seltzer and rush on over there before they’re all snapped up!

We’re off to London for the weekend to do much the same thing, get hammered that is, so see you all Monday and have fun!

Festeeval at Cottonmouth

admin    T-Shirt News     Dutch fashion, Dutch t-shirts, cool tees, cottonmouth, cottonmouth.nl, girly t-shirts

Cottonmouth.nl are a relatively recent fave of Buy Tees and now to top it all they’ve gone one step further and knocked 30% off their t-shirts as well as offer free shipping! You can’t ask more than that

Psyched Tees From Disturbia Clothing

admin    T-Shirt Reviews     Disturbia, Disturbia Clothing, DisturbiaClothing.co.uk, Prodigy, UK t-shirts, art t-shirts, cool tees, edgy, political tees, punk t-shirts, rock, street, unique tees

First off I’m back, I’ve been to the back and beyond, I’m sunburned and peeling all over but all in all I feel fresh as a daisy so let’s get down to business and lay Disturbia Clothing on the Buy Tees couch and see what makes them and their legion of fans tick. If you’re already familiar with this edgy Brit label then you’re in good company. Check out this documentary of The Prodigy’s latest tour and you just might see Liam sporting one of their best-sellers, their Disco t-shirt.

I always feel right at home, culturally speaking, when I visit their site, everything from their products to the web design to their constantly updated left field blog shimmer with a slightly tongue-in-cheek British fervour for the hey days of punk. Their style spills right out onto their highly flamboyant illustrated t-shirt prints which are all highly recognisable as unique yet strangely familiar iconic pieces that make up their collection. Their ideas are their tour de force, some perhaps more obvious than others, but in a good way, in the way you might think ‘damn, I could have thought of that’ except you know you didn’t, and if you ever did, you know you’d never got around to creating them, because if you had I’d most likely be writing about your label right now :p

Their reputation has spread far and wide into the world of independent fashion retailing with 17 online stockists and what I guess must be another hundred or more stores selling their unique wares around the world. So if you like what you see then there’s no excuses when it comes to tracking down any of their infectiously irrational tees, hoodies and accessories (if you don’t order direct), besides which they have a handy mailing list so you can keep up to date with all their latest offerings no matter what corner of the world you may reside. So without further a due, rip a few holes in your best pair of jeans, stick a safety pin through your nose, kick the TV Screen, deface any image of royalty you may have lying around and get ready to enter the minds of Disturbia. read more

The Amazing Ames Bros.

admin    T-Shirt Reviews     Ames Bros. Ames Brothers, Pearl Jam, US t-shirt designers, cool tees, famous tees, funny t shirts

No they’re not a flying trapeze act, they’re not part of a secret government cloning project, and they’re not a household cleaning product manufacturer but they do make great tees. The sort you can wear anywhere with pride, the sort that will confuse your mother, make a customs officer at the airport snigger, and get you through any interview (as long as the work is paid at minimum wages). If you want quality gear, if you have a superb sense of humour and nothing seems to phase you, then it’s time to try on some styles by the Ames Brothers. AmesBros.com has a deceptively cool and simple layout, I love the little tricks they’ve sneaked in on their site to keep you hooked, check out the main character, which appears to be a kid from a 1950’s comic reinvented on a faux-graffiti background, it’s true what they say about great paintings – the eyes follow you around everywhere – lol.

The Ames Bros. (Jeff and Barry Ament) have recently teamed up with Pearl Jam artist Brad Klausen, responsible for the creation of just about every Pearl Jam poster there ever was and published a rather fab book worth checking out. Pearl Jam Vs. Ames Brothers should be getting a heap load more publicity soon seeing as the big wigs in La La Land are currently shooting a Pearl Jam movie. Let’s hope it doesn’t turn out like a po-faced version of Spinal Tap! I have never enjoyed many rockumentaries, but then again most rock stars have made it because they can jam to high heaven, not so much for their intellectual clout. Still, it’s all poetry I suppose. Anyway be sure to check out the new book featuring 100s of poster designs here.

If you have the spare dough you might be lucky enough to get the brothers to design or illustrate something for you, I’m guessing their rates are going to reflect public demand so if you want to hire them be prepared to pay big time – anyway commission them for your project here. If you’re one of us mere mortals you might be far better off simply buying one of their fantastic t-shirts, I’ve featured a few of my favourites here – check them out!

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Fat Gold Are No Fools

admin    T-Shirt Reviews     80s tees, Add new tag, cool tees, disco tees, fashion tees, fashionable t-shirts, fat gold, fat gold clothing, fat gold t-shirts, killer tees

All that glisters isn’t gold, and Fat Gold Clothing are certainly not as precious about ideology or concept as some t-shirt labels out there, but there’s definitely one thing you can expect from FGI and that’s attitude by the bucketful – and by that I mean this ‘their tees are so in your face you’d need surgery to remove them’.

The site is sharp, slick and well organised** yet leaves you unprepared for the raucous behaviour in textile printed form that awaits you. They do a very nice sideline in badges which feature all their mad, bad and dangerous to know creations, and a blog that’s well worth a lookie, I particularly enjoyed their features on a midi controller that looks something like an old Midway arcade game and a fab video of Only by Nine Inch Nails, as well as (of course) a little background info on all their designs. The truth is Fat Gold is more of an attitude than a brand, a mentality than a brand, you’ll either be into it or not.

There’s one particular t-shirt at FGI I absolutely love, Fat Gold Skull (I’ll show you it in a minute), it sums up everything about the label for me, scary and funny at the same time, reassuringly anarchic, totally off the wall but grounded in a great deal of common sense. They spoof where they have to but this isn’t a “funny t-shirt” brand, this isn’t a trendy for the sake of being trendy company, Fat Gold follow their own sense of style (and do very well by it), I’d love to see a lot more tees in the future from these guys, and I do hope they don’t make the mistake of being a slave to “Seasons” like some of their competitors like to do, the fact is “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it”.

I don’t want to see their best work disappear for the fear of keeping everything fresh, sure add more designs (the more the better) but don’t lose the old favourites. (This last opinion applies to almost all the up ‘n’ coming labels in the market not just FGI). I’d love to see them hold on to a few more of the older tees in stock, such as their Ku Klux Clan spoof of Ghostbusters and most especially their robot tee, but I suppose it all comes down to economics, you have to follow your instincts when it comes to selling tees.

Anyhoo, let’s get down to the nitty gritty and take a big bite out of Fat Gold and see if you like the taste. read more

Word Up To Word Apparel

admin    T-Shirt Reviews     cool tees, fresh t-shirts, graffiti t-shirts, graffiti tees, graffito, hip hop tees, hip-hop t-shirts, tagging, urban t-shirts, urban tees, word apparel, wordapparel

Deamn Right! Here’s a fresh young label straight from the street for all you homies out there looking for something laid back yet sharp, slick but with a nice line in self-deprecating humour. Great for a night out downtown, or chillin’ with your bro’s, your first stop should be Word Apparel; created, owned and run by Levi based in Houston, Texas. His style, distinctly ghetto, his humour, toon surrealism with a great eye for colour and a great knack for one-liners. This t-shirt collection is not your usual funny ‘ha ha’ eclectic range of old tired japes you’ll normally come across. As you might (or might not) expect from the freshest of the fresh, there’s a distinct blend of the underground street about Word Apparel. Bold prints peppered with touches of pathos and cheek, backed up by an illustrative edge that any self-respecting graffiti artist would have to lay down his cap to, that’s the order of the day at WP. You should expect big things from this lad, and you won’t be disappointed…

As Levi puts it at his popular Myspace joint, “We are always doing something new, focusing on new items to release, and many more things. So check back everyday, you never know what you could miss out on if you don’t! We have your biggest concerns in mind: Quality, Comfort, a “true to size fit”, and LOOKIN’ GOOD! That’s why we only use the highest quality prints and shirts, American Apparel!” read more

T-Shirts For The Starry-Eyed

admin    T-Shirt Reviews     Blondie, Cobain, Worn Free, celebrity t-shirts, cool tees, famous, famous t-shirts, retro t-shirts, vintage t-shirts, wornfree.com

Do you idolise? Do you love your celebrities? I must admit I have a love-hate relationship with them all in general, I mean they’re for the main part paid beyond the wildest expectations of the ordinary man or woman, but nevertheless they have to be at the top of their game or they wouldn’t be able to afford their grand mansions in the leafier suburbs of Beverly Hills and the like. Still I have a soft spot for a few, the faux-genius of Andy Warhol, the dark hymns of lost soul Kurt Cobain, the machine-gun delivery and lambastery of Bill Hicks, hang on wait a minute they’re all dead? Hmm… perhaps that’s the trick, you can only truly be a star if you’re dead. Still there are plenty of living celebs with more than a smattering of cool about them and that’s exactly what WornFree.com are all about. read more

There’s a Revolution Going on Down at Ban T-Shirts

admin    T-Shirt Reviews     ban t-shirts, cool tees, organic cotton t-shirts, organic t-shirts, political t-shirt, political t-shirts, political tshirts, politics, revolution

For those who think that politics is boring you’ve got another think coming, it’s your future, nay your destiny; it’s the only way that we the people will ever be able to have a say in our collective lives, and seeing how much of Western political dogma has leant towards the far-right over the past decade or two, you have to make a protest where you can. Because, and keep this between you and me, if you rub the government up the wrong you can and expect at least a four year police operation on your back checking your every move and utterance.

For all the freedom that technology has brought us you have to admit that there have been some massive downsides to our information revolution, including the slow coaches in government catching on to ‘this thing called the Internet’. Essentially CCTV Britain doesn’t let you sneeze without recording it on some secret database or other, and i won’t even start on America, however let’s just say if you mention Iraq or terrorism in a phone call then you’re on their hot list, besides the fact that I very much doubt any of us are about to lay waste to civilisation, the alternative is a barcoded subsistence of mutual fear and conformity.

Now if you’re still with me and are at this very moment fidgeting as you wait for a less ethereal revolution to come your way, you might want to check out the offerings at BanT-Shirts.com, a site that provides a chink of light, a hope of fashionable resistance against the underwhelming moral minority that have little to look forward to except a turnaround in the world economy and their graves.

If you’re not a faceless follower of the mainstream media, and you want to shake up your community with a pithy yet pertinent message, then Ban T-Shirts organic cotton t-shirts have a collection that could help you on your way to becoming a socially acceptable political agitator. Ban T-Shirts offer a range of superb selection of printed on the finest brands of American made sweat shop free T-shirts including American Apparel; Royal Apparel and Organic Apparel. read more

Take Your Medicine It’s Good For You – Medicated Clothing T-Shirts

admin    T-Shirt Reviews     cool t-shirts, cool tees, illustrator, indie t-shirts, jamie marshall, medicated clothing, medicatedclothing.com, t-shirt designer

Jamie Marshall, an established illustrator and t-shirt designer has just released her latest philosophically cynical design for the world’s perusal – The Choice Was Not Hard is currently available at the incredibly popular Shirt.Woot.com t-shirt community and store.

If TCWSH tickles your fancy you can pick it up at http://shirt.woot.com/friends.aspx?k=6415 but hurry it’s only on sale for a few weeks and her die hard fans are snapping them up as we speak! So what is ‘The choice Was Not Hard’ about? Well it seems pretty self-evident to me, we all have to make choices in our lives, some of them good, some of them bad, for the most part (if we’re really being honest here) most human beings opt for immediate amusement, satisfaction, titillation or plain old convenience. read more

Wear A Shirt To That All Important Interview

admin    T-Shirt News     Allmightys.com, allmightys, business, career, cool tees, funny t-shirt, funny tees, humour, interview

I suck at interviews. The only really important one I’ve ever had (except a few to get in to art college yonks back) was for Campaign Magazine, it was way back when I though I could possibly stand working for someone else, 9 to 5 as Dolly used to squawk. However it was all down hill after they gave me the job. the truth is I had the strangest experience at the group interview stage, yes there are a few companies who still bother doing that, don’t ask me why, perhaps they are looking for natural born leaders. If the Haymarket Group which owns Campaign Magazine thought I was a leader then they were profoundly mistaken. All I’ve ever managed to do is lead people up the garden path, metaphorically speaking that is. I don’t mean I grab strangers and walk them up and down the back of my house (which is only a very small patch of decking anyway), that would be too weird, even for me. read more